News

Palm Springs hit-and-run suspects in custody

Published November 21, 2018 4:29 PM

Cathedral City police have arrested a second suspect wanted in connection with an early morning Cathedral City/Palm Springs pursuit that ended in a hit and run crash. The first suspect was taken into custody shortly after the crash this morning.

At 3:38 a.m., a CCPD officer on patrol in the area of Avenida La Paloma and Ramon Road observed two vehicles with headlights off in the middle of the roadway, with people entering and exiting the vehicles. The vehicles droves off, and the officer attempted a traffic stop on both vehicles. Both vehicles yielded, but as the officer approached, one vehicle drove off at a high rate of speed.

A short vehicle pursuit on westbound Ramon Road followed. The pursuit ended in Palm Springs at 3:41 a.m., when the suspect vehicle crashed into an occupied vehicle near the intersection of Ramon Road and Calle Encilia. After the collision, the suspects, a male and female, fled the scene on foot into the surrounding residential area.

PSPD officers located the female suspect, 34-year-old Nicole Guzman, and took her into custody. Guzman is a parolee-at-large. An “unsecured, loaded 9mm pistol” was found in the suspect vehicle. Guzman was arrested for gun charges and a parole violation.

At 11:30 a.m., CCPD officers and officers from the Eastern’s Region’s Post Release Accountability Compliance Team (P.A.C.T.) were able to gather information about the second suspect, 20-year-old Manuel Montenegro, and arrest him in the area of 30100 San Antonio Dr. in Cathedral City. He has been identified as the driver in the morning hit and run by law enforcement.